


Memoirs

by A Magiluna Stormwriter (ariestess)



Category: West Wing
Genre: Community: femgenficathon, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-28
Updated: 2011-08-28
Packaged: 2017-10-23 08:21:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/248193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ariestess/pseuds/A%20Magiluna%20Stormwriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is what I get for letting myself fall into a funk over this whole memoirs thing, isn't it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Memoirs

**Author's Note:**

> Date Written: 27-28 August 2011  
> Written for: [](http://femgenficathon.livejournal.com/profile)[**femgenficathon**](http://femgenficathon.livejournal.com/) 2011  
>  Prompt: see below  
> Summary: This is what I get for letting myself fall into a funk over this whole memoirs thing, isn't it?  
> Spoilers: Post-series, so consider everything up for grabs.  
> Warning: No standard warnings apply.  
> Website: ShatterStorm Productions – Doggie Duo  
> Link to: <http://bdkk.shatterstorm.net/>  
> Archive: ShatterStorm Productions only…all others ask for permission & we'll see…
> 
> Disclaimer: “The West Wing”, the characters and situations depicted are the property of Warner Bros. Television, John Wells Productions, NBC, etc. They are borrowed without permission, but without the intent of infringement. This site is in no way affiliated with "The West Wing", NBC, or any representatives of the actors.
> 
> Prompt: _You know that women are always looked upon as nothing; but we are your mothers; you are our sons. Our cry is all for peace; let it continue. This peace must last forever. Let your women's sons be ours; our sons be yours. Let your women hear our words._ \-- Nan'yehi, also known as Nancy Ward (c.1738-1824), Cherokee warrior, [Ghighua](http://teachingthevaluesofpeace.blogspot.com/2010/04/beloved-woman-of-cherokee-nancy-ward.html) (literally, "Beloved Woman" or "War Woman," the highest title given to women counselors and judges), and spokesperson for her people when dealing with representatives of the U.S. Government. Nan'yehi was the [last of the Ghighua](http://www.cherokeebyblood.com/religion.htm#N).
> 
> Author’s Notes: This was a fascinating piece to write. I actually struggled for quite a while to figure out who to use to write for this prompt. And then CJ just sort of _clicked_ for me. And I took it.
> 
> Dedication: My muses, as always…
> 
> Beta: Thanks to [](http://cleo.dreamwidth.org/profile)[**cleo**](http://cleo.dreamwidth.org/) for the beta. Any remaining errors are all on me.

How could I possibly have refused the position? Well, I suppose I could have very easily if I'd really wanted to. And maybe that's the point of this whole thing. Did I really want to turn it down? And if I did, what would have happened?

Oh, Claudia Jean, you are certainly a glutton for self-castigation punishment lately, aren't you?

This is what I get for letting myself fall into a funk over this whole memoirs thing, isn't it? And what's with all the questions? Can I not answer any of them? Clearly not, or I wouldn't be having this weird internal monologue when I should be otherwise deeply asleep.

Fine. If I'm not going to sleep, I might as well make a pot of coffee and go through my notes a little more to work out the damned book's outline.

  
 _
  * Make sure to mention how different it was going from being an ad exec to Press Secretary.
  

  * Corollary to this: Should you mention the highlights of your career before getting into politics? Or is that just opening a big old can of worms that would be better left buried? You
_ did _leave your old job with a relatively bad taste in your mouth, after all.  

  * Make sure to mention Leo's influence in your life, both personally and professionally.
  

  * Make sure to mention the changes you went through personally and professionally in going from Press Secretary to Chief of Staff.
  

  * Corollary to this: Should you mention the personal stuff? Is anyone really going to find that interesting at all?
  

  * Make sure to mention how very strange it felt to sit in Leo's office, at Leo's desk, and how long it took before you stopped feeling like you were trespassing into forbidden territory -- or your dad's office.
  

  * Make sure to mention what it meant to change from one high profile position in the administration to another. And how utterly unheard of that tends to be, particularly for the two positions you occupied.
  

  * Corollary to this: Maybe the personal and emotional thing would work here, after all.
  

  * Make sure to mention that whole "Lemon Lymon" fiasco of Josh's as a testament to why you should never troll fan forums about yourself. No matter how badly you may want to do it. That's what interns are for.
  

  * Make sure to mention why you turned down a position in the Santos Administration.
  

  * Make sure to mention…
_


No, this isn't working out either. I'm just rehashing the same things over and over again, but nothing of substance is coming out. Why am I having so many issues with this stupid book? It should be easy to talk about the things I accomplished during the Bartlet administration, both as Press Secretary and as Chief of Staff. Hell, I could just frame it around the major events that happened during those eight years. But that would be cheating, wouldn't it? Didn't I do enough interviews and press conferences at the time, and shortly after President Santos took office, for people to know what I did and didn't do?

Okay, Claudia Jean, take a deep breath and slow down for a minute. What specifically is giving you such pause to write this book? You've known since the day you became part of Bartlet's election team that, if he won, you'd be writing a book about it. You've got folders full of documents and notes about everything you did and didn't do going back pretty much to day one on the campaign trail. Take those notes, adjust them, polish them, and write the damned book!

But I don't want a memoir of my time in the West Wing if it's going to be just like all the others out there. Do people really read those books anyway? Josh seems to think they do. Apparently my publishers do, as well, or they wouldn't have asked me to write the damned thing in the first place. I don't even want to get into the fiasco that would ensue if I should decide to back out of this book deal. Maybe I should just get a damned ghost writer to work through all of my notes and files, let _them_ have the headaches instead of me.

No, that wouldn't work. I'm too damned hands-on to let someone else have that much control over something that will ultimately fall on my shoulders. I was Press Secretary for how many years? And in advertising for even longer before that. If I can't string the words together to write a book encompassing a very public part of my life, then I'm pretty damned pathetic.

I just can't find the right angle to make this damned book stand out from all the others out there. If I'm going to take the effort to write this thing, I want it to mean something. I want people to walk away from reading this book with an insight about which they wouldn't otherwise have a single clue.

Wait a minute! What was it that Amy Gardner told me when she called to congratulate me on the book deal? I know I have it here somewhere, as it made sense at the time to keep it for future reference. It's amazing how slipshod my organization skills have gotten when I don't have to worry about the fate of the country as much.

>  _CJ, you do realize the impact you could have with this book, right? There are girls and young women out there who need to know that they can do anything they put their minds to. And that includes becoming Chief of Staff to a future President, if not President itself._
> 
>  _You have a moral obligation to future feminists of the world to promote the idea that women don't have to be subservient to men unless they choose to. And if they're smart, they'll never choose that._
> 
>  _Write the damned book, CJ. Make me, and all women, proud._

Amy Gardner may be a complete and utter pain in the ass most of the time, but when she's right about something… And damn her, she is right about this. But at least I have an idea of where to start.

>  _When I agreed to join the Bartlet campaign team, and later the Bartlet Administration, I knew something big was going to be happening that would change my life. Little did I know at the time how much it would change, and how many doors it would end up opening for women all over the world._


End file.
